UNL’s 301-member Cornhusker Marching Band, the “Pride of All Nebraska,” makes its 2013 debut Aug. 31 at Memorial Stadium with pregame and halftime performances at UNL’s football season opener against the University of Wyoming.
This year’s band includes representatives from nearly every region of the country, but 85 percent of the students are from Nebraska. Each band member passed two auditions to gain admittance to the group. One-fourth of the band members are music majors. The rest are studying in more than 70 other degree programs across campus.
Anthony M. Falcone, associate director of bands in the UNL School of Music, is the director of the Cornhusker Marching Band. Douglas W. Bush is the assistant director of bands and assistant marching band director. Carolyn Barber, professor of music, is director of bands. Other band staff members are graduate teaching assistants Chris Barnes, James Dreiling and Kai Hong Yeung. Ben Coleman is the band’s percussion instructor and Ashlea Jurgens-Woitzel is the color guard instructor. Rose Johnson is the administrative technician for the band program, Jan Deaton is the office associate and Nolan Schmit is the “voice” of the Cornhusker Marching Band.
The drum majors for 2013 are senior Andrew Kroeger of Omaha, sophomore Kayla Krueger of Lincoln, senior Ali Malik of Lincoln and senior Nicholas Raimondi of Deerfield, Ill. The twirlers are senior Rachel Foehlinger of Omaha and freshman Morgan Miller of Hollidaysburg, Pa.
The Cornhusker Marching Band was founded in 1879 as an ROTC unit and is one of the oldest marching bands in the nation. The Marching Red has received many honors throughout its 134-year history, including a Distinguished Recognition Trophy presented by John Philip Sousa in 1927 and the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Trophy in 1996 for high musical standards and innovative marching routines. The Sudler Trophy is the highest honor given to collegiate bands.
The Marching Red has been seen by millions of viewers on television including in 2005, when the band was featured on the NBC prime-time series “Tommy Lee Goes to College” in 2007, on ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition” and in 2008 in the motion picture “Yes Man” starring Jim Carrey. The band was the first collegiate ensemble to perform at all the major football bowl games (Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Cotton). The full marching band will be traveling to the Nebraska-Minnesota game on Oct. 26 in Minneapolis.
